Zuma Restaurant Miami

Zuma, which opened its London restaurant in 2002, followed by outposts in Hong Kong andDubai; three months ago, it unveiled a downtown Miami branch in the Epic Hotel. These days, enough patrons pack Zuma’s Zen-like environs to make it crackle with energy. A spacious and stylish sake lounge up front pours more than 40 types of the libation, including Biwa no Choju, brewed exclusively for Zuma “from the waters of Lake Biwa in theShiga prefecture.” I’m not sure where that is, but the sake tastes good.

The bar area leads to a lovely, lofty dining room composed of glass, stainless steel, granite, stone, and raw Indonesian wood tables — a multitextured, taupe-toned palette. One wall of floor-to-soaring-ceiling windows offers a vista of the Miami River (the fish-eye view of the Brickell Avenue drawbridge opening is as interesting a visual as one can hope to glimpse from a restaurant seat). On the opposite side, a thoroughly exposed kitchen blends into the space and serves as a main focal point — especially when sparkler-like flares from the robata grill alight. The sushi bar is tucked toward the rear, next to a glowing wall of backlit orange-colored glass. Other ambient conditions were less favorable — the music was too club-like and the room so chilled as to feel refrigerated — but this is nonetheless an ideal arena in which to meditate upon executive chefRainer Becker‘s exquisite cuisine.

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